Smyrna times., 1887-09-14
FORGED EVIDENCE.
VARIOUS DEVICES OF CRIMINAL S
TO ESCAPE JUSTICE.

Attempt to Make a Homicide Appear a
Standardization of Evidence in the
Crooks Own BehaIf-Presumption of
Guilt-ZeaIous Counsel.
1t is usually regarded upon a criminal
trial as one Of the strongest proofs of guilt
that the prisoner has manufactured testi-
mOny in his own behalf, especially if this
has been done prior to or just about the |
time of the commission Of the offense. |
This one thing has doubtless many times |
put the rope around the neck of the
accused, when in all probability the
other facts in the case, taken by them
selves, could hardly have taken the case
out Of the realm of reasonable doubt. 1t
is legal maxim, pretty well supported
by human experience, that all things
should be presumed against the doer of a
crooked deed, and where such Il thing is
shown against the prisoner it usually re-
quires overwhelming proof of an honest
intent, or at least an intent not criminal,
to relieve the act of its ugly character and
to overcome the natural inference Of guilt
1t IS not uncommon in cases of intended
homicide for the criminal to pave the way
for news of the death. Asking if a GER
tain person is not looking i'll, telling mar
velOus and doleful dreams, reporting
vague threats, and the like, are methods
often adopted. On the trial of a negro
for murder in Pennsylvania some years
ago, it was shown that he had procured q
fortune teller in the neighborhOOd, who
was regarded with great reverence among
the cOlOred population, to foretell with
! distinctness and particularly the hour
and method of the death of the deceased.
A woman in England, who was convicted
of the murder of her husband and two
| children, told female neighbor, about
month before the commission of the crime,
| with well simulated distress, that she
had had her fortune told by q gypsy
woman, who had predicted that within
six weeks she should see three funerals
pass from her door.
Another very common instance is the
attempt to make homicide appear n sui
eide, as by putting a weapon in the hand
Of the deceased, SO that probably a very
searching examination will not be made
Of the case, the assassin trusting that the
coroner will jump at a conclusion without
careful inquiry. How often this has been
successful we, Of course, have no means
Of knowing. COroners and police officers,
like prosecuting attorneys, will be fooled
sometimes. But the criminal records are
plentifully sprinkled with cases where, so
far from escaping the law, the guilty
party has thus furnished the clew for his
detection and conviction. In some in
stances the pistol has been found in the
opposite hand from the wound, or held in
o manner wholly inconsistent with the
theory of self murder, where death must
have been instantaneous. In one case the
bullet extracted from the wound was
found to be of a caliber several sizes
larger than that of the weapon; in an
other, the pistol in the hand of deceased
had never been discharged ut all while in
still another it had evidently not been
loaded. So also with reference to sharI
weapons as knives, daggers and razors
| and very often in cases Of poisoning
| where the criminal has purchased poison
in the name of the deceased and left what
has not been used in close proximity t.
the body. The strangest case is tina
where the hand of the deceased tightl!
clutched dirk knife, while the fata
wound was clearly inflicted with SOM
blunt instrument. Occasionally tn
: corpse Of the victim is carried to the rail
I road track to be mangled by n passing
, train, or tumbled down some old quarry
In the hope that the mutilatiOn of th
\ /
l often persons are thrown after death int
: water that they may be supposed to b
drowned. This latter device is rarely
. If ever, successful, for medical science ha
definitely established the marks by whic
death by drowning may be certainl
shown or disprOved, and the authOritiC
can scarcely be deceived, even though tn
u investigation be only superficial.
1t may be well to remark that prOfe.
siOnal criminals and those who have bee
Z regularly schOOled to crime rarely if eve
IL resort to the fabrication of evidence
:; their own behalf. The expert crook is tC
u wise and too well posted to run any sue
risk, for he knows its danger. If he ca
escape by throwing suspicion adrOitly &
some one else he will do it. He will sl
a purse which he has stolen into Il
y pocket Of another man when in danger
discovery, or join i'll n crowd and yC
al "StOp thiefr with all his might or pc
IS. senate an officer, or do some other SUI
rs bold thing, but he is too shrewd usual
a. to write letters, give warnings and Il
"a like. The schemes l have described n
N usually adopted by those who are cOmm
IL ting n first Offense without any Grimm
he experience or teaching, or by those w
ny | almost against their wills are sudden
IS. guilty of crime. For the most part tn
he occur in cases of homicide, where t
by murder has been for some time premet
he tated, and where the Motive is not such
Ter generally actuates the common thug.
7as The presumption of guilt arising fri
air the fabrication of evidence is not alwa
a conclusive, even in law Instances 4
ar. unhappily numerous where innocent p
ted | sons have worked their own undOing
is. thus seeking to avert suspicion frC
themselves. Every man is liable at sol
mr. time in his life to be involved in n netwC
es. of circumstances which threaten his &c
ace name, his liberty or his life. And ma
yht men, wholly gWiltless, have forged wi
led they supposed would be proofs of their
ON nOcence Just as others have resort
ars to disguise and fight. A man
On. weak nerve, suddenly placed in 60
of promising situation, confronted with
terrors of accusation. arrest and tr1
it'll may in the horror Of the moment, seek
the oHlv present safety, do some act VIII
.te- not only strengthens the suspiciOns agai
to MIN, but also seems proof positive OF
ne, guilt, and all the explanations IN
re- world will not clear him 1t is not I;
.rt- therefore, to judge man guilty alwa
to simply because he has resorted to
net forgery or destruction of evidence.
to Instances are plentiful where couni
lat without as with the cOnnivance and c
I'm sent of their clients, have manutactu
pre- and presented false testimony for the
usi- fense, and have justified their action W
oh, the speciOus plea that everything go
ery where a mans life or liberty is at stake
To sum up the whole, the fabricat
ter. and forgery Of evidence stands about
en- the same footing with every other kinC
ring testimony which tends to prove or
The prove guilt It is the province OF
, in Jury to decide upon its weight and eft
,uld in connection with all the other facts $
Dus. mitted to them, and they are just al
his as apt to decide it wrong as they are
and decide it right.-'Circuit Attorney
nee GlObe-DemOcrat
ress
foot An Absent Minded Person.
the One Of the most absent minded Of ]
/ di- lived and died, not long ago, in town
far from Concord. He was most woI
llier minister of the Gospel, and conducted
the greater part Of one long midsummer
ent. vice with one pair Of heavy spectacles
y,ge vnca ouI onnfbnr pnnfnd hiuh M